NARROWLEAF The Klamath and Modoc peoples of northern California and southern Oregon made flexible CATTAIL baskets of twined cattail. Cattails were also twined to form mats of varying sizes for sleeping, sitting, Typha angustifolia L. working, entertaining, covering doorways, providing plant symbol = TYAN shade, and a myriad of other uses. Lengths of cattail were plied into rope or other size cordage, and cattail Contributed By: USDA, NRCS, National Plant Data rope was used in some areas to bind bundles of tule Center & Idaho Plant Materials Center into tule boats. Air pockets or aerenchyma in the stems provided the buoyancy for good boat-building Alternate Names material. flags, rushes, bulrushes, cat o’nine The Cahuilla Indians used the stalks for matting, tails, Cossack bedding material, and ceremonial bundles (Barrows asparagus, reed 1967). Some tribes used the leaves and sheath bases mace, baco as caulking materials. Apaches used the pollen in female puberty ceremonies. After dipping the spike Uses in coal oil, the stalk makes a fine torch. The fluff can Caution: This also be used as tinder, insulation, or for lining baby species can be very cradleboards. The down is used for baby beds invasive in disturbed (Murphey 1959). wetlands. Please read about the Wildlife: The multitudes of tiny, wind-carried seeds environmental are too small and too hairy to be attractive to birds concerns under (Hotchkiss and Dozier 1949). In a few exceptions, Management. the seeds are eaten by several duck species. Cattail rootstocks are much more valuable as food for Ethnobotanic: All wildlife than are the seeds. Geese and muskrats parts of the cattail prefer the stems and roots. Moose and elk eat fresh are edible when Brother Alfred Brousseau spring shoots. Shelter and nesting cover are provided gathered at the © St. Mary’s College for long-billed marsh wrens, redwing blackbirds, and @ CalPhotos appropriate stage of yellow-headed blackbirds. growth. The young shoots are cut from the rhizomes (underground stems) in the spring when they are Conservation: This plant is used widely for wetland about 4 to 16 inches long. The base of the stem restoration and constructed wetlands for tertiary where it attaches to the rhizome can be boiled or water treatment. Typha species can become invasive roasted like potatoes. The young flower stalks can be in disturbed habitats. taken out of their sheaths and can be boiled or steamed just like corn. Cattail pollen is a fine Status substitute for flours. It is a bright yellow or green Please consult the PLANTS Web site and your State color, and turns pancakes, cookies or biscuits a pretty Department of Natural Resources for this plant’s yellow color (which children love). The rhizomes current status, such as, state noxious status, and and lower stems have a sweet flavor and can be eaten wetland indicator values. raw, baked, roasted, or broiled. Cattail rhizomes are fairly high in starch content; this is usually listed at Description about 30% to 46%. The core can be ground into Cattails are herbaceous, colonial, rhizomatous, flour. One acre of cattails would yield about 6,475 perennial plants with long, slender, green stalks pounds of flour (Harrington 1972). This flour would topped with brown, fluffy, sausage-shaped flowering probably contain about 80 % carbohydrates and heads. Typha angustifolia plants are 15-30 dm tall. around 6% to 8% protein. Since cattails occur The spike-like, terminal, cylindric inflorescence has around the world, it is a potential source of food for staminate flowers above and pistillate flowers below. the worlds' population. The naked axis between the staminate and pistillate flowers is generally 1-8 cm. The spike is medium to dark brown. The basal leaves are thin with parallel veins running their long, narrow length. The leaves due to scour or flooding. Recommended seed are 4-12 mm wide when fresh, 3-8 mm wide when density is unknown at this time. dry. Seed Germination in Greenhouse Typha angustifolia generally occurs in deeper water • Plant in the greenhouse in 1" x 1" x 2" pots, 1/4" than Typha latifolia. Typha angustifolia has fewer under the soil surface. Keep soil surface moist. and larger rhizomes, resulting in a low rate of cloning Greenhouse temperature should be 100° F (plus but enabling it to grow in deeper water than Typha or minus 5° F). Seeds will begin to germinate latifolia. Typha angustifolia has a higher allocation after a couple weeks in warm temperatures. to sexual reproduction. Cattails spread both • Plants will be ready in 100-120 days to come out vegetatively and by seed, particularly under as plugs. By planting seeds in August, plugs are drawdown conditions. ready to plant in the soil by November. These plants are very small. Growing plants to a larger Distribution size will result in increased revegetation success. Cattails are always found in or near water, in marshes, ponds, lakes, and depressional areas. They Live Plant Collections are obligate wetland indicator plant species. Cattails • No more than 1/4 of the plants in an area should tolerate perennial flooding, reduced soil conditions, be collected. If no more than 0.09 m² (1 ft²) is and moderate salinity. With influxes of nutrients or removed from a 0.4 m² (4 ft²) area, the plants freshwater, cattails are aggressive invaders in both will grow back into the hole in one good brackish salt marshes and freshwater wetlands. growing season. A depth of 15 cm (6 in) is Narrow-leaved cattails are found in marshes at sufficient for digging plugs. This will leave elevations <2000 m. They grow throughout North enough plants and rhizomes to grow back during America and Eurasia (Hickman 1993). For current the growing season. distribution, please consult the Plant Profile page for • Donor plants that are drought-stressed tend to this species on the PLANTS Web site. have higher revegetation success. • Live transplants should be planted in moist (not Establishment flooded or anoxic) soils as soon as possible. Typha species may be planted from bare rootstock or Plants should be transported and stored in a cool seedlings from container stalk or directly seeded into location prior to planting. Plugs may be split the soil. Bare rootstock or seedlings are preferred into smaller units, generally no smaller than 6 x revegetation methods where there is moving water. 6 cm (2.4 x 2.4 in), with healthy rhizomes and Typha seeds germinate readily and are a cost- tops. The important factor in live plant effective means to propagate cattail on moist soils. collections is to be sure to include a growing bud Typha species can be invasive in disturbed wetland in either plugs or rhizomes. Weeds in the plugs situations and become a monoculture. should be removed by hand. For ease in transport, soil may be washed gently from roots. Seed Collections The roots should always remain moist or in • Select seed collection sites where continuous water until planted. • stands with few intermixed species can easily be Clip leaves and stem from 15 to 25 cm (6 to 10 found and obtain permission for seed collection. inches); this allows the plant to allocate more • Seeds can be harvested when they are slightly energy into root production. Plant immature. It is important to harvest the approximately 1 meter apart. Plants should be staminate stalks before they dry and blow away. planted closer together if the site has fine soils • Harvest by using either hand clippers, cutting the such as clay or silt, steep slopes, or prolonged stem off below the seed heads, or by stripping inundation. • the seed heads off of the stalk. Use a seed Ideally, plants should be planted in moist soils in cleaner to process the seeds. Dry and store the late fall just after the first rains (usually late seeds in brown paper or burlap bags. October to November). This enables plant root • Plant cleaned seed in fall. Plant in clean, weed- systems to become established before heavy free, moist seedbed. Flooded or ponded soils flooding and winter dormancy occurs. Survival will significantly increase seedling mortality. is highest when plants are dormant and soils are moist. • Broadcast seed and roll in or rake 1/4" to 1/2" from the soil surface. Some seed may be lost • Fertilization is very helpful for plant growth and reproduction. Many more seeds are produced References with moderate fertilization. CalPhotos 2000. Typha angustifolia.
Because cattails have relatively little value for ducks, Grace, J.B. 1985. Juvenile vs. adult competitive they are often regarded as undesirable weeds in abilities in plants: size-dependence in cattails places intended primarily for ducks. It has been (Typha). Ecology 66(5):1630-1638. found that mowing cattails after the heads are well– formed, but not mature, then following up with Grace, J.B. & R.G. Wetzel 1982. Variations in another mowing about a month later (when new growth and reproduction within populations of two growth is two or three feet high) will kill at least 75% rhizomatous plant species: Typha latifolia and Typha of the plants. This will enable other emergent angustifolia. Oecologia 53:258-263. vegetation with more palatable and nutritious seeds to become established. Grace, J.B. & R.G. Wetzel 1981. Phenotypic and genotypic components of growth and reproduction in Environmental Concerns: Ecologically, cattails tend Typha latifolia: Experimental studies in marshes of to invade native plant communities when hydrology, differing successional maturity. Ecology 62(3):699- salinity, or fertility change. In this case, they out- 801. compete native species, often becoming monotypic stands of dense cattails. Maintaining water flows into Harrington, H.D. 1972. Western edible wild plants. the wetland, reducing nutrient input, and maintaining The University of New Mexico Press. 156 pp. salinity in tidal marshes will help maintain desirable species composition. If cattails begin to invade, Hoag, J. C. & M.E. Sellers (April) 1995. Use of physical removal may be necessary. greenhouse propagated wetland plants versus live transplants to vegetate constructed or created Over the past century, we have dramatically wetlands. Riparian/Wetland Project Information increased the range of this species and have brought Series No. 7. USDA, NRCS, Plant Materials Center, T. angustifolia and T. latifolia together with the Aberdeen, Idaho. 6 pp. production of the hybrid T. glauca. This taxon is extremely aggressive and will out-compete either Hickman, J.C. 1993. The Jepson manual. Higher parent. The methods of control include clipping and plants of California. University of California Press. floocing >12 inches, herbicides, and hydrology 1399 pp. management (Melvin 2000). Please contact your local agricultural extension specialist or county weed Hotchkiss, N. & H.L. Dozier. Taxonomy and specialist to learn what works best in your area and distribution of North American cat-tails. Am. Midl. how to use it safely. Always read label and safety Nat. 41:237-253. instructions for each control method. Trade names and control measures appear in this document only to Keator, G., L. Yamane, & A. Lewis 1995. In full provide specific information. USDA, NRCS does not view. Three ways of seeing California plants. guarantee or warranty the products and control Heyday Books, Berkeley, California. methods named, and other products may be equally effective. Melvin, N. 2000. Personal communication. USDA, NRCS, National Wetland Science Institute, Laurel, Cultivars, Improved and Selected Materials (and Maryland. area of origin) Please check the Vendor Database, expected to be Roos-Collins, M. 1990. The flavors of home. A guide on-line through the PLANTS Web site in 2001 by to wild edible plants of the San Francisco bay area. clicking on Plant Materials. This species is readily Heyday Books, Berkeley, California. 224 pp. available for native plant nurseries specializing in wetland plants. Shay, J.M. & C.T. Shay 19??. Prairie marshes in western Canada, with specific reference to the ecology of five emergent macrophytes. Can. J. Bot. 64:443-454.
USDA, NRCS 2000. The PLANTS database. Version: 000321.
Prepared By Michelle Stevens Formerly USDA, NRCS, National Plant Data Center
Chris Hoag USDA, NRCS, Plant Materials Center, Aberdeen, Idaho
Species Coordinator M. Kat Anderson USDA, NRCS, National Plant Data Center c/o Department of Environmental Horticulture, University of California, Davis, California
Revised 04dec00 jsp
For more information about this and other plants, please contact your local NRCS field office or Conservation District, and visit the PLANTS
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